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Based on the sutras, the Vinaya and later commentaries
About the Sources

The seer Asita foretells that the prince will become a Buddha

Attested across multiple schools

Seeing the gods rejoicing, the seer learns that the Bodhisatta has been born, and comes to the palace to look at his marks; he foretells that the boy will certainly become a Buddha and teach the world. Knowing that he is old and will not live to hear the Buddha teach, the seer weeps, and he charges his nephew to go forth under the Buddha in time to come (for Nārada's going forth see Year 1 after the Awakening). The texts of every major school record this event.

Different Accounts

Names: the seer's name is also rendered Ayi, Asituo and so on, and the later commentaries of the Southern tradition use another of his names; the nephew is also called Nāramāṇava or the youth Nāla, while the Buddha biography Zhongxu mohedi jing says he was the seer's pupil.

More differences between accounts (3)

The ages in the prophecy: the Chinese Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya says the seer foresaw that the prince would “go forth at nineteen and practise austerities for six years”, and the Buddha biography Guoqu xianzai yinguo jing also has the going forth at nineteen; the Zhongxu mohedi jing has six years of austerities in the mountains at twenty-nine. The going forth at twenty-nine is followed throughout, and the account of nineteen is listed only here.

Who went to whom: the Sutta Nipāta of the Southern tradition, the Chinese Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya and the Buddha biography Xiuxing benqi jing say the seer came to the palace himself; the Taizi ruiying benqi jing and others say the king and queen carried the prince to see the seer.

Order: the Chinese Mahīśāsaka Vinaya places this event after the Awakening as a retrospective account; the Buddha biographies also differ on whether it came before or after the mother's death.

Dating

Not long after the birth, the Buddha newly born; the canonical texts do not say on which day. Inferred from the sequence of events, it is known only to fall after the birth; the exact time is uncertain.

Related Entries

Year
Birth
Places
KapilavatthuThe Heaven of the Thirty-three
People
RādhaAsitaNandā
Discourses
Sutta Nipāta 3.11
Research Notes: Reliability, Dating and Sources
How Reliability Is Assessed

Recorded by three schools: the Pali canon of the Southern tradition, the Chinese Mahīśāsaka Vinaya (Wufen lü) and the Chinese Saṅghabhedavastu of the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya. Attested across multiple schools.

Dating Evidence and Precision

Inferred from the sequence of events (neither the canonical texts nor the commentaries give the time; the year is worked out from the order of this event and those around it). Time precision: year uncertain.

Sources

Back to Birth

Source text

日期怎麼讀

成道第幾年
從佛陀成道開始，每經過一次雨季安居算一年，每一年算到安居結束為止；所有年歲一律依二十九歲出家、三十五歲成道推算。
年份依據
區分經文自己明記、後世註解書記載、先後順序推定及年歲換算。
時間精確度
分別說明確定到日、月、年，或只能放入某幾年之間。
可信度
多派共傳、兩派記載、單派記載與後世補述，表達記載的共傳範圍；與時間及位置是否確定分開閱讀。